Divergent thinking is highly acclaimed by many and others think that they could never have this type of thinking, no matter how much they wanted to benefit from all its advantages. In reality, everyone can have divergent thinking, as long as they know what it is and that like everything in life, with practice you can improve remarkably.
Although you may be one of the lucky ones who innately have divergent thinking. Find out how this thought can change your life below.
What is
Divergent thinking is a creative way of looking for solutions to things in everyday life. When you have a conflict or a problem in front of you, you will use divergent thinking to be able to find all possible solutions in a creative way until you find the one that really is the best for the specific case.
Therefore, divergent thinking is the ability to generate ideas (such as brainstorming) in which an idea is followed in various directions to come up with one or more new ideas, which in turn leads to other new ideas. In contrast to convergent thinking (which aims to solve a specific problem) divergent thinking is creative, open thinking aims to generate new views and novel solutions… creativity comes into play!
The secret to creating new ideas is to separate divergent thinking from convergent thinking. This means generating many options before evaluating them. Such brainstorming techniques are used during divergent thinking. Quality is sought in quantity and therefore combinations and improvements are sought in each of the ideas.
Creativity as a solver
Creativity, as well as intelligence, is a general human trait, all people have a certain level of creativity. Most have mid-level creativity, but only some people are very creative or lack creativity. Having divergent thinking (lateral or creative) means seeing and perceiving a situation in different ways. It means restructuring the old patterns, escape the usual and build new models of thinking.
Divergent thinking is not just about generating new ideas, but also about unleashing conflicts between opposing ideas, between old and new ideas. Someone who thinks this way works through leaps, not through "little steps"; they operate not only with relevant elements but also with irrelevant ones. Finally, divergent thinking means allowing spontaneous elements of thought to influence a systematic way of thinking or vice versa.
Advantages of divergent thinking
- Flexible thinking that allows you to see the same situation from many angles.
- Judgment and self-criticism are ignored as you search for new sources of inspiration and new partnerships to achieve something.
- The number of new ideas is much greater than in convergent thinking, and the emphasis is on the big picture of a situation, ideas, and problems.
- It is much easier to get out of your comfort zone if you have this type of thinking and are successfully facing new challenges in life.
Disadvantages of divergent thinking
- By focusing on the big picture, details can be left out, which can also be important.
- The number of ideas and solutions counts, and there is a risk of not properly evaluating their quality.
- You can lock yourself in the problem without acting on the solutions found.
Creative thinking is associated with the nature of divergent thinking, as both try to adopt new ideas and seek as many solutions as possible. It is easy to see that divergent thinking means an opening of new opportunities and many options that are not seen at first glance, but that can be discover along the way through this kind of way of seeing things.
Although it cannot be said that divergent thinking is the best of everything, it must be taken into account that between divergent and convergent thinking, to find the best way to solve things, the secret is to find the balance. It is best to have a flexible mind that is able to integrate both thoughts for the benefit of the situation. in particular.
Do you have a divergent thought?
Perhaps, at this point, you are curious to know whether or not you have a divergent thought. There are some signs that can indicate that you have a divergent thinking, they are the following:
- The best ideas come to you when you are alone, in the shower or about to fall asleep. This occurs because these are times when you allow your thoughts to wander freely. There is a strong link between creativity and various solitary activities (dreaming with your eyes open, meditation, solitary walks, etc.).
- You are more creative when working on your own than in groups. No matter how productive we are on the team, nothing compares to working and thinking in lonely moments. The most creative and imaginative networks that are configured in the brain work optimally when we are alone.
- You are hungry for knowledge. From a neuroscientific point of view, the link between openness to new experiences, learning new information, and creative thinking has long been confirmed. Exploration, motivation, and learning are related to the activity of dopamine neurotransmitters, which also facilitates psychological plasticity, exploration, and flexible participation in new activities.
- You have a strong intuition. Intuition is also a form of creativity. Unconscious and subconscious processes can be faster and more structurally sophisticated than conscious cognitive processes.
Learn to develop your divergent thinking
It is easier than you think.
Ask you questions
When you find yourself in a problematic situation write your opinion about it. So do not limit yourself to that opinion only and ask yourself questions like:
- Why is it like this and is it not different?
- What other approaches does this situation have?
- How many ways can this problem be solved?
3 words
Think of a problem then open a book at random and choose 3 words. Write those three words and ask yourself the following: "How can I associate these words with my problem and what solutions can I see here?"
When you are going through a more difficult time, take two steps back and imagine that you are viewing the matter from afar. Now that you have the big picture, what new interpretations and solutions can you see?
Free writing
Take a piece of paper and write everything that comes to mind without analyzing it. Just let your mind express itself freely. Remember that anything is possible, which means that there are several ways to achieve that goal or achieve your dreams.